PV Sindhu advances into second round, Loh Kean avoids early scare

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu cruised into the second round of the women’s singles of the ongoing India Open 2022 at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Sindhu defeated compatriot Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli 21-5, 21-16 in just 27 minutes to win the opener. She will next face either Ira Sharma or Egypt’s Doha Hany in the round of 16. World champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore avoided an early upset as he came from a game down to defeat Loh Kean Yew 16-21, 21-4, 21-13. This was his first competitive match since his world championship gold.

Earlier, Ashmita Chaliha overcame fifth-seeded and world number 28 Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia 24-22, 21-16 in the opening round in just 31 minutes.

“I haven’t played a lot of matches in the last few years. So, I was nervous and that affected me midway in the opening game. But once I won the first game, I was more confident and so I was relaxed in the second game,” she said after the match. She will now face France’s Yaelle Hoyaux who defeated Riya Mookerjee of India.

In the day’s other matches in the opening session, K Sai Prateekh and Gayatri Gopichand defeated Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Castro 21-16, 16-21, 21-17 while men’s doubles top seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan got their campaign off to a winning start by beating Prem Singh Chouhan and Rajesh Verma 21-18, 21-10.